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Maintaining Data to Uphold Civil Rights in Special Education Systems: A Focus on IDEA’s Significant Disproportionality
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the nation’s preeminent education civil rights law for children and youth with disabilities. It guarantees a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities and early intervention services for infants and toddlers. The CEP published a new report reviewing significant disproportionality data collection in IDEA.
Significant disproportionality is a tool for civil rights compliance in special education systems and it is required by law. This reporting by districts captures the extent to which there are racial/ethnic differences in three major categories within special education systems: 1) discipline; 2) settings where services are received; and 3) identification across disability types. It enables districts to understand whether there are trends in their data that suggest that systems are treating a particular group differently, unfairly, and less favorably than other groups, potentially pointing to discrimination.
Significant disproportionality data collection requirements, both in statute and regulation, are a response to longstanding data and research that have found both disparate treatment and disparate impact experienced by children and youth of color within special education systems.